LTR 157: Why Risk Doesn't Get Heard and How to Change That
From Let's Talk Risk! with Dr. Naveen Agarwal by Casual and informal conversations about practical aspects of medical device risk management.
May 29, 2026 · 27 min
About this episode
The episode discusses how MedTech professionals can better communicate safety and risk to senior leaders.
Summary “Quality and risk people need to translate safety into business terms.” In this Let’s Talk Risk! conversation , host Naveen Agarwal speaks with Eric Sugalski about how MedTech professionals can communicate safety, risk, and innovation more effectively to senior leaders. Eric brings a broad product-development perspective across engineering, manufacturing, regulatory strategy, commercialization, and early-stage MedTech leadership. He discusses why innovation and safety should not be treated as separate conversations, why risk professionals need to get involved earlier, and how safety-led thinking can reduce rework, improve alignment, and strengthen business outcomes. The conversation also explores the siloed nature of MedTech, the need for cross-functional decision-making, and how QA/RA and risk professionals can increase their influence by connecting safety concerns to revenue, time, market success, and leadership priorities. Listen to the full 30-minute podcast or jump to a section of interest listed below. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction 02:40 – Why MedTech innovation is moving faster 05:00 – Thinking about safety beyond compliance 08:00 – Safety-led innovation as a…
People in this episode
Host: Naveen Agarwal
Guest: Eric Sugalski
Topics covered
- risk management
- MedTech innovation
- safety communication
- cross-functional leadership
- business outcomes
Keywords
- risk management
- safety
- MedTech
- innovation
- business terms
- cross-functional
- leadership
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: MedTech
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